


Zuko Does Not Think Highly of President Raiko

by FrantheAnne



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-01
Updated: 2014-07-01
Packaged: 2018-02-07 00:00:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1877403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrantheAnne/pseuds/FrantheAnne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Former Fire Lord Zuko visits Republic City to ensure that Korra will receive adequate protection from the newly escaped convicts. He is not pleased with what he discovers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Zuko Does Not Think Highly of President Raiko

"She's not here right now."

"She's not _what_?" Zuko growled, glaring at the haughty man sitting in front of him.

In the face of Zuko's menacing expression, President Raiko's arrogant air had slightly deflated.

"I said," Raiko paused, looking at Zuko over his desk, "that the Avatar is not here at the moment. I- We exiled her. She was destroying the city and the public polls were against her and we decided that the best course of action would be to banish her from the city."

 

Zuko's features slowly schooled into an expression of almost casual conversation, and he asked, his voice deadly calm, "You exiled her?"

Raiko, relieved that the former Fire Lord had seemingly seen sense, nodded.

"She brought this plague of spirits and vegetation upon Republic City! Look at it!" Incensed, Raiko gestured first at the vines creeping through his office, and then at the view outside the window. Republic City was turning green with the amount of spirit vines teeming in the streets, crawling over numerous buildings.

"Honestly," Raiko continued, shaking his head, "Since she came here that girl has caused more trouble than she's worth."

"'That girl' is the Avatar," Zuko slowly replied. His hand twitched.

Raiko frowned, leaning forward and placing his elbows on his desk.

"Regardless of who she is or isn't, Lord Zuko, she was a menace to this city and it is my job as it's president to-"

"It is her job as the Avatar to take care of the entire world!"

Zuko stood up sharply, towering over Raiko, who had to crane his head up to maintain eye contact with the irate firebender.

Zuko slammed his palms flat on Raiko's desk and leaned over Raiko, whose eyes were wide with shock.

"'That girl' that you speak of so derisively, Raiko, has had more weight on her shoulders since she was a _child_ than you have ever had in your entire life. You may be charged with the peace of this city, but she is charged with maintaining the balance of the _entire world_. Of course, I cannot possibly expect someone so engrossed in winning the next Republic City Presidential Election to understand what it is like to have to maintain _world peace_. I cannot imagine how you, in attempt to raise your ratings in the voter polls, thought that it might be a good idea to banish the Avatar from this city."

Zuko stepped back, his fists clenched. 

"I have heard, of course I have heard, of Avatar Korra's decision to leave the spirit portals open after the incident with the Chief of the Northern Water Tribe. The Fire Nation has not been left unscathed by the strange creatures that have exited the Spirit World. But at least its leaders have been making a proactive attempt at cohabitation with the newest residents of our world."

Zuko took a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself, and cast his gaze outside Raiko's window at what Raiko viewed as the spirit vines' destruction of his city.

"No matter how much you may dislike the situation, these spirits are here to stay. A wise individual would try to coexist with them, instead of trying to eradicate them from an environment they're just getting used to."

Raiko opened his mouth, ready to reply, when Zuko raised his hand, pausing Raiko's rebuttal.

"I do not care who was here 'first.' You're forgetting that thousands of years ago these Spirits coexisted with humans. They've been along for far longer than our current civilizations have been."

Zuko turned back to Raiko, his hard stare affixing the poor man to his seat.

"And by exiling the Avatar from your city you have given up your last chance of coexisting with these spirits. They are stronger than you, Raiko, and they will quickly overwhelm this city before you and your small mind can come up with a feeble countermeasure. Any attempt to combat them will only aggravate them, and expedite the destruction of the city you sought to lead. Furthermore, by banishing Korra you have opened her up to attack from a radical group who seeks to do nothing but destroy her and end the Avatar line, regardless of the cost."

Raiko slumped in his chair, defeated.

Zuko, upon seeing that Raiko has understood what he has been saying, gently sets a hand on the younger man's shoulder.

"Without the Avatar, without Korra, you cannot hope to bring any of your citizens back into their homes. You need her here, not as a bridge between the spirit world and the physical world, but as the foundation of a unified world in which both spirits and humans can coexist. Republic City will have to change. We cannot expect to continue living the way you have in the past. We all have to consider that we are no longer the only sentient beings in this world."

Zuko patted Raiko's shoulder once more, and turned away.

"Despite the decisions you have made as of late, you are not a bad leader. I am hopeful that you will help shape a better future for the city that Avatar Aang and I built. I have faith that you will succeed, but without Korra none of your endeavors will have positive lasting effects on this city. Repair your relationship with the Avatar, Raiko. She may be just a girl, but that makes her no less deserving of your respect."

Zuko strode out of Raiko's office, shutting the door silently behind him. 

Once outside, he sighed heavily and closed the distance between him and his dragon, preparing mentally himself for a long trip home.

"Come, Iroh," Zuko conveyed his sudden exhaustion to his friend, wanting nothing more than to sleep where he stood, "Perhaps if we pay or friends at the Air Temple Island a visit, they'll allow us to rest there before we venture home."

Iroh bent his neck and puffed warm air into Zuko's face in amused consensus, making the elderly firebender's hair flutter around his head.

Zuko laughed and patted the dragon's wide neck and gracefully leapt onto his back.

"I'm sure Aang's grandchildren will be eager to play with you as well."

A loud groan of complaint escaped Iroh's throat. But if Iroh's wings beat faster in contradiction of his conveyed displeasure of being treated as a jungle gym, Zuko didn't say anything.


End file.
